Bhubaneswar: At least 19 students were injured when a bus carrying them on a school picnic rammed into a tractor on National Highway 126(A) near Dunguripali in Odisha’s Sonepur district on Tuesday morning.
The accident occurred near Salepali village, close to Indurekha Rice Mill. Around 40 students, along with their teachers, were traveling from Bargarh’s Padampur to Patali Srikhetra, a popular pilgrimage site in Sonepur, for a day outing.
According to sources, the bus rear-ended a paddy-laden tractor amid dense fog that reduced visibility in the early hours. The impact left 19 students and three teachers with injuries. Local police promptly arrived at the scene and initiated rescue operations. While most of the injured received initial treatment at Dunguripali Community Health Centre, three students were shifted to Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) in Burla for specialised care.
Meanwhile, police have launched a probe and efforts are underway to nab the driver who fled the site soon after the accident.
This comes two days after a person was killed and 17 others suffered injuries after a bus, carrying 50 people including some students of a private school, for picnic on the hill near Buratal fell into a 20-foot gorge in Ganjam’s Patrapur block.
